Outside
by ChaserGrey
Summary: In which Joy and Sadness keep a promise to a friend.


"_Endurance, Houston. We've got the official word from the Flight Director, and once you're through your final suit checks you are go for airlock depress and EVA._"

"YES!" Joy jumped off the Headquarters couch at the sound of Melissa Lewis' voice on CAPCOM, bouncing in the air as she pumped her fists in the air. "Hear that? History books, here we c-o-o-me!"

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Fear was hunched over in his place, hands over his eyes, barely able to look at the view screen through the gaps in his fingers. "There's no AIR out there! Do you realize how many things can go WRONG right now?"

"Oh, believe me, they already have." Disgust piped in from next to him. "Were you even watching where all the tubes went when we put this suit on?"

"I…I just couldn't!"

"Lucky you."

"People!" All the emotions by the couch immediately stopped talking as Professionalism turned from the control panel to glare at them. She'd shown up during the first month of Riley's astronaut candidate training, grey-skinned and hatchet-faced, the most colorful thing about her the stylized NASA blue flight suit she wore. "If you all don't mind, I am currently trying to finish our suit check so we don't all explode in the next two minutes, and I could use some quiet in here." Joy had taken an instant dislike to the new arrival- they all had, since her job was usually to keep all the other emotions away from the controls when important things were happening- but she'd also been the first emotion to start working with her when it became apparent she'd need Professionalism's help to keep an old promise. Now she locked her hands behind her back and cleared her throat.

"Ah, quite right, Professionalism. Here, let me help you." Joy crossed Headquarters and carefully collected a few blue-grey tinged balls from the ready rack, memories of lectures and simulations. She pretended not to notice Anger's muffled "Teacher's pet" as she crossed over to the projector and fed them in, giving Professionalism an overlay to work through as she worked with the incredibly complex new additions on the control panel.

"And…yes." Professionalism swung the view screen around to check for a thumbs-up from Riley's EVA partner, then grabbed the microphone. "_Houston, Endurance. Suit checks are green and we are proceeding with depressurization and egress._"

No one said anything for the next few minutes, as Professionalism alternated scanning her readouts and glaring over her shoulder at Fear whenever it looked like he was about to pop. Then the airlock was in vacuum. Riley's arm reached out and swung the outer door open.

"Oh." It was more a happy little gasp than a word, as Joy practically vibrated in place. The Moon's sky was black as ink, with only a few of the very brightest stars visible. The surface was a bright whitish-grey in the low sun of the lunar morning, but here and there were bright, scintillating quartz like bits of color that almost shimmered in the sunlight. It was, hands down, the most utterly beautiful thing Joy had ever seen, and the only thing that made her happier was the thought that some new sight was likely to take its' place before this spacewalk was over.

"My word." Even Professionalism wasn't unaffected, and the other emotions crowded around from the couch. Fear had taken his hands away from his eyes, and Disgust muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Worth it." After a long pause, Professionalism turned and stepped away, gesturing towards the control panel.

"Joy? I think this is more your moment."

Joy nodded and stepped forward, reaching back to grip Sadness' hand and pull her friend forward to stand beside her at the console. It was her moment, and yet not all hers. Sadness had a place here too, and someone they'd made a promise to long ago. Joy gripped the controls and moved them forward, laughing delightedly at the feel of moving free in the Moon's light gravity.

And Mission Commander Riley Anderson, as she stepped out of the airlock and became the first woman to stand on the surface of the Moon, for just an instant forgot the words she had planned for the occasion. Something else had popped into her head, and after making sure her transmitter was off she stifled a giggle and sang quietly to herself.

"_Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing Bong. His rocket makes you yell "Hooray!" Bing Bong, Bing Bong…_"

Joy let Professionalism have her lines, of course, but the rhyme stayed in Riley's head throughout her first moonwalk. And later, after the suit came off and the President called and they were all settling down to an exhausted sleep in the crew quarters' hammock, Sadness shared a secret smile with Joy and just whispered,

"We made it."


End file.
